Some things were made for the big screen. Motorcycles, waterfalls and fireworks immediately come to mind. Academic sex research does not. But in \Kinsey,"" the new film about famed sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, research is presented as a passion and as a duty to the public while never losing track of why people have sex in the first place. In doing so, director Bill Condon has crafted a bookish and uneven, but surprisingly entertaining, biopic.
Using interviews with Kinsey (Liam Neeson) to frame the story, Condon begins with an exploration of the researcher's childhood. The movie follows Kinsey as he begins to develop a passion for science and rebel against his oppressively pious father (John Lithgow). The story continues as Kinsey teaches at Indiana University, where he meets his wife Clara (Laura Linney) and begins his pioneering and controversial research into human sexuality.
""Kinsey"" reflects many common weaknesses of biopics. Condon's script often seems to feel obligated to present a bullet point-style chronology of the most important events in Kinsey's life, which prevents the story from taking on a comfortable arc. The most interesting parts of the film involve Kinsey's research, but Condon delves deeply into Kinsey's personal life, as well as those of his research assistants, which occasionally drains focus from the narrative.
But the movie is defined more by its crisp writing and exceptional acting. The research is made accessible and the taut dialogue guides the story steadily, even if it often sounds more like literary prose than like actual human interaction. And while the script does sometimes focus too much on merely listing the important moments of Kinsey's life, the transitions between phases are far smoother than in other biopics, like ""Ray.""
And even the script's less nuanced moments are smoothed over by an impressive cast. Neeson and Linney deliver two of the year's best performances. Neeson lends presence and humanity to a man who never quite figured out how to treat people as anything other than research specimens. Meanwhile, Linney offers the best outing of her notable career, showing once again that Oscar-worthy female performances don't have to involve putty noses, extensive sex scenes and ugly makeup.
The two leads are also complemented by rare and welcome appearances from Tim Curry and Chris O'Donnell, as well as Oliver Platt and a wonderful supporting role from Lithgow. Only Peter Sarsgaard disappoints, as his mannered performance sees him fail again to match the strength of his breakout performance in 2003's ""Shattered Glass.""
But the movie's main failure comes in its final act, when the smooth storytelling crumbles into a mess of morality and over-dramatization. ""Kinsey"" stresses the importance of discussing sex outside religious terms of sin, but then becomes a morality play in handling the characters' love lives. And the film is tainted by not one, but two sentimental endings: emotional caps for both Kinsey's professional and personal lives.
Condon also tries too hard to create a martyr figure from Kinsey, almost like ""Mr. Smith Goes to Washington""-even to the point that the main character collapses dramatically while exhaustedly addressing a room full of critics. Kinsey's research was flawed and he had critics other than homophobes and religious zealots; Condon would have been wise to acknowledge them.
What is most odd about ""Kinsey,"" though, is how it takes such a conservative stylistic approach to such a radical figure. The camerawork, story structure and acting performances are simple, but skillful. And while the film is unextraordinary, and loses itself toward the end, it still comes out as a solid effort and one of the year's best-even if from unusual subject matter.
